"I Wanna Hold Your Haaaaaaaand...."

After he left I checked my email, having a message from one of the other guys I was supposed to meet that week. I had this anxious feeling about that though. I was chatting with another one online later that night when Markus texted me good night and to have a great day tomorrow…awww!

I had agreed to meet this other gentleman, but when I went to bed that night…I just had this unsettling feeling. I decided to pray and leave it up to God to guide me in what I should do. When I woke up the next morning to go to work, I still had that uneasy feeling about meeting the other guy. I got to work and talked to one of my co-workers about it…she smiled and said: “Well, I think you know what you need to do…” So I took her advice and listened to the little voice inside my head that said to pursue these feelings I was having for Markus. I emailed the guy and told him that I met someone and wanted to see where it would go. He promptly emailed back “How could you do this to me? I opened up to you and this is what you do?” Dude I’ve only known you online for like two weeks! We’ve never even met! That solved my anxiety problem! I definitely made the right decision!

Markus was going to have his daughter, and I Ben and Sam the rest of the week,in then he had to go out of town to a Tech (codeword for Geek!) conference Friday and Saturday. So we made arrangements to \meet that Saturday if he got back town. He told me later that he was driving like crazy to make it back from Tulsa! The guys he was with wanted to see some other booths and he said “NO! We’re leaving NOW!”

We decided to go downtown to the Mud House for coffee and tea. I hate to say that I don’t remember the details of the night…just that I do remember laughing and really enjoying him! As we were leaving I did something I’ve never done before! We were walking along this ally way and I was very aware of how close we were walking beside each other and how our arms were right next to each other. I every so slyly took his hand! Which totally threw him off…he responded with “What was that???” I said “Do you not want me to hold your hand? I can take it back.” Which he responded with: “NO! I want you to hold my hand…you just surprised me!” Hehehehe!

So from that night forward we’ve spend every day together! Whether it was all day, a couple hours for a date, or 10 minutes when he came by to bring me flowers! When I took Ben and Samantha over to meet him and his daughter, Logan, as we were leaving I asked Ben what he thought of Markus. He replied with “he’s a really nice guy. You like him don’t you?” I gave a coy smile and said “yeah…”

From Paint Chips To Chocolate Massage!

So not to bore you with our day to day events of dating…which was day to day…we literally saw each other every day since! I think the first week was very significant though, so I’ll tell that story then jump ahead.

I went over to his house Sunday (the day after our first date). He invited me over to look at paint samples he was thinking about using. He wanted to sell his house but needed to spruce it up a bit. My first impression when I pulled up was “WOW!” It’s a beautiful home, why would he want to sell? I didn’t ask, mostly because I understood wanting to make a fresh start in a new home. Unfortunately I couldn’t sell mine, so I just repainted every room to make it feel new!

I came inside and looked at some of the samples he chose. They were nice…again I was VERY aware at how close he was standing next to me…yet he never made a move! Such a gentlemen…wonder if he could hear how fast my heart was pounding in my chest?? He showed me the acreage and I noticed how clear the sky was and how bright the stars were in the sky! When we came back inside, his phone rang. By the way he was talking I could tell it was his mom. He was invited to dinner by them and asked if he could bring a friend. His response made me laugh…”well, yes, Mom, I have a friend!” So we ventured off together (this time in my van, a 1997 Honda Odyssey, Lx, with beige cloth interior…) This is kind of a big step - meeting the parents this soon! But his folks were great! His dad was pretty quiet and his mom seemed quiet too…(little did I know!!!) I offered to take him back to his car so he could drive back to his mom and dad’s (he moved back home, remember?) Again, perfect gentlemen…didn’t try anything, very respectful, very funny…I’m getting more and more intrigued.

The next day I had made an appointment to get a chocolate massage…yes you read correctly…a CHOCOLATE MASSAGE! My aunt gave me a gift certificate for my birthday and I was gonna use it! I called Markus on the way there and asked him if he wanted to come over and I would make him dinner that night. I’ll never forget the surprise in his voice when he said “I’d love to!” I warned him I would smell like chocolate!

And boy did I! So much so that I had to take a shower when I got home…and I STILL smelled like cocoa. Unfortunately I ran out of time to cook, so we went out for Chinese food. He told me about his trip to Brazil, and I told him about my trip to Nicaragua. When we got back to my house, he came inside and we talked for several hours. He never once made me feel uncomfortable or insecure. I showed him around the house and the pictures I had taken of the kids and of my Nicaragua trip. When he left he didn’t try to kiss me. But I could tell by his smile that he wanted to!

Mightyzot enters my life....

I had set up a meeting with another guy I was talking to…and was chatting on the phone with another one every once in a while. I came home from Apple butter making days with Samantha, her dad picked her up, and I settled in to my normal Saturday night ritual of HGTV and ravioli in my pj’s. I hopped on the computer and up pops an IM from computer guy…"what’cha doin?" He asks. "Not much…watching TV," I say. "Wanna go to a movie?" He asks. I thought about it…what the heck. "Sure," I said. "Well," he says, "it’s not till 9:40, so wanna meet at Carlos O’kelly’s for dinner first?" Hmmm…"ok…I’ll see you there!" I raced upstairs and threw on some clothes, put on a little makeup, fixed my hair and out the door I went.

I got there first…I only saw one picture of what he looked like. I knew he had red hair, and wore glasses…but that was it. I waited outside. I turned around as someone said my name. It was him. We exchanged greetings and went inside. We were seated at this small table in the middle of the restaurant, but next to a half wall. I like this place…I like to get their cheese queso with tortillas. But as far as Mexican food, I’m pretty picky. We do some nervous laughing and made some silly comments about the awkward silence, then talked about the whole online dating thing…he made a comment about how according to cyber time we’d be together for like five years by now…so I made a joke about where my anniversary present is…and he of course said, well, I’m a guy…so naturally I forgot it! We laugh…wow…I like him! He’s really easy to talk to and be around…plus he’s kinda cute!

We eat dinner…can’t remember what we ordered…but we talked about my mission trip, teaching, programming, and our kids. His daughter went to a middle school that I had done a practicum at and even had the same teacher. I really like him! He's very easy to talk to and seems very respectful. He asked me when we were leaving if I wanted to ride across the street to the movie theatre with him and I said sure..."waht kind of car do you have?" "A 2006 Ford Mustang GT, white with red leather interior." What is it with men and their cars? I said, "Oh."

We arrived at the movie theatre to see the Bourne Supremacy. Sat down and I remember thinking how nice he was, he's not tried anything, not been too forward, yet I was very aware of how close were sitting in the theatre...I liked that...

The movie was funny and he didn't seem to mind that I asked some questions during the movie when I got lost. You know, I female, I often need some help with these actiony/suspense kinda movies. After the movie he drove me back to my car, I said I had a really good time, he agreed, I got out and then got in my car. He waited till I drove off then left...OH CRAP! I totally forgot to give him my number! I got home and got online to send him a message that he could call me sometime with my number, and low and behold he emailed me right back to see me tomorrow. Hmmm...I like him!!!